Media Alert: Learning from Hurricane Sandy: March 26 Webinar To Discuss Securing Boats in the Water for a Storm Event

WHAT: The Association of Marina Industries (AMI) and Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) have teamed up to offer a series of three online webinars for marine facility operators and others interested in learning how to secure boats to avoid damage in future storms. The third and final webinar, “Securing Boats in the Water,” will be held on Tuesday, March 26, 2:00pm EST. After suffering through the devastating hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005, many Florida marinas rebuilt their docks to withstand hurricane winds and surge using highly engineered floating docks on tall pilings. But success depends on understanding your marina’s or boat club’s risks, engineering to those risks, and preparing the marina before the storm. The same can be said for moorings. Beth Leonard, Director of Technical Services for BoatUS, will share what the BoatUS Catastrophe (CAT) Teams have learned with respect to moorings and dock structures, both fixed and floating, and share some new ideas that have come out of debriefing the BoatUS CAT Teams after Sandy.

WHY: Hurricane Sandy was the single-largest recreational boating industry loss ever recorded, with over $650 million in damage to boats alone. Not included in that figure are the hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to marinas, boat yards and yacht clubs. Boats that didn’t stay put in Sandy’s exceptional storm surge caused damage to other boats, marina infrastructure, and private and public property.

WHEN: March 26, 2:00pm EST - “Securing Boats in the Water,” will look at the challenges presented by moorings and by various dock structures, such as fixed or floating docks, and also look at solutions and best practices. The first in the series, “Sandy Overview: What We’ve Learned,” was held on March 5 and looked at what made Hurricane Sandy so destructive and the types of damage it caused. The second was held March 12 and dealt with storage of boats on land. Recordings of the first two webinars will be available for a small fee.

HOW: The cost to attend is $10 for members of AMI or BoatUS and, for non-members, $25 for one webinar, $40 for two and $60 for all three. NY and NJ facilities are invited to attend for free, compliments of AMI and BoatUS, but they must still register. Any proceeds after costs will be donated to the NJ Recovery and Relief Fund to aid recreational marine businesses damaged during Hurricane Sandy. For more information, call (866) 367-6622 or visit MarinaAssociation.org.

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About AMI:

The Association of Marina Industries (AMI) is a nonprofit membership organization that provides management training, education and information about research, legislation and environmental issues affecting the marina industry.

About the BoatUS Catastrophe Team:

The BoatUS Marine Insurance Catastrophe (CAT) Team salvages boats and processes insurance claims after major hurricanes. Comprised of insurance claims representatives, surveyors, adjustors, crane operators, transport staff, on-the-water towers, yard managers and administrative staff, its goal is to salvage damaged boats and settle BoatUS Marine Insurance Program claims as quickly as possible. With many of its members having over 25 years experience, the BoatUS CAT team has often been asked by local authorities to coordinate salvage efforts among multiple insurance companies.